The red plate on his HRC machine must be a great feeling for Tim Gajser, and with just two rounds remaining, the pressure building on both Gajser and defending champion Jorge Prado must be huge now. Gajser still holds the red plate and lost just four points over the weekend, and surely most would rather enter China with a 14 point lead, then in deficit.
If he can do the same type of consistent, solid results in China and Spain, he will pick up his sixth FIM World Motocross Championship. Another race win would be his 50th GP victory, which would just put icing on the cake. Getting wins at this stage, though, isn't easy, and the fine line between maintaining and slim points lead over Prado might determine this title.
“I mean, definitely, we are all trying to win, but if everything is good, without any mistakes, we always finish, with Jorge, myself and Jeffrey [Herlings], one, two, three and the pace is quite similar," said Gajser. "It was just not easy to pass on this track if the guy in front of you didn’t do a mistake or take a different line to open up the lines, but overall, it was okay for us.”
On Saturday, Gajser won the MXGP of Turkiye qualification race to increase his lead to 19 points. A nice gap, but more importantly, the Slovenian felt good on the track.
“It was a fun day,” Gajser said about Saturday. “I’m really happy to get the win here. I felt good on the track and when I was in second, I knew I had the speed to make the pass and win the race. Eventually I made that happen, and it was good to take another win and increase the championship lead a little bit more. Obviously tomorrow is another day, but the plan is to do it again and get as many points as possible.”
Gajser followed up his MXGP of Turkiye qualification win, with a solid second overall in Sundays two motos. The Slovenian rider went 4-2 in tricky conditions at the Afyon circuit.
"The track was completely different,” said Gasjer when comparing Saturday and Sunday. “On Saturday the track was fast and not so many lines and on Sunday, the ripped it and there were more lines, in the morning it was wet. I thought for second race, they would fix the outside berms, because it was mainly inside everywhere, but for the rest, the track was technical. The ruts were deep and with bumps inside."
Gajser found himself locked in a battle with Prado in the second moto, and that kept the crowd going. He got close at times but couldn't quite get his title rival.
“It was a solid weekend, solid for the championship," he said. "The first race, I didn’t feel the best, I had a solid start, I was behind Jeremy [Seewer] and then my line selections, where not the best. I was trying different lines, but then I opened up the lines and the riders passed me. So, I was fourth and it took me a couple of laps to find my rhythm. Then I started to push back, but it was not easy to pass. The second race, again, solid start and with Jorge, we were close and then 10 minutes to go, I caught a lapper in a split line, and I lost a lot there. We were a similar pace, and it wasn’t easy to come back. But anyway, riding was good, still two GPs to go and I am looking forward to it.”
The penultimate round of the series is next weekend as the series returns to China after a five-year hiatus, where Gajser will be looking for a higher points tally to take to the final round of the campaign, which once again sees riders line-up for a third time in Spain.
“After winning the qualification race, I was excited to go racing today, but I didn’t quite have the same feeling on the track today. What they did overnight didn’t really make the track better and it was very one-lined, and I couldn’t make the pass in that second race. Still, I can’t be too disappointed. I’m still leading the championship with two rounds remaining and I’m confident I can get the job done. A big thanks to all the team for all their effort and we’ll keep building for China next weekend.”
"We are really close, two GPs to go, so 120 points with the qualification races. I don't know, Jeffrey had a crash in the first moto, but I don't know where he finished (10th). If everything is normal, it is between me and Jorge."
Now onto China and then Spain. Despite not winning in Turkey, if Gajser stays upright and doesn’t do anything stupid, he will be very hard to beat for the championship. However, with the pressure these guys are under, anything is possible and as we know, motocross isn’t a sport that favours anyone. In fact, it usually bites when least expected. With two Saturday Qualifying Races and four motos to go, and only 14 points between the lead duo, anything can happen.
